,

Is It Time to Worry About Steph Curry’s Career-Worst Shooting Slump?

Is it the new ball? Is it fatigue? What in the hell is wrong with Steph Curry?

One of the distinct advantages of being an Orlando Magic fan is that my team is so badโ€”as in 7-34, the worst record in the entire league kind of badโ€”that it leaves me with plenty of time to watch other teams who actually win games.

Video will return here when scrolled back into view
Dominique Thorne Reveals Why She Almost Passed on <em>Ironheart</em>
Dominique Thorne Reveals Why She Almost Passed on <em>Ironheart</em>

To that end, because I spent my entire adult life in Phoenix prior to moving to Los Angeles in 2014, I have a vested interest in watching the Suns and Clippers flourish. (But fuck the Lakers.) Iโ€™ve also developed an affinity for teams like the Boston Celticsโ€”sorry, Iโ€™m a Jayson Tatum apologistโ€”Brooklyn Nets, and the Philadelphia 76ers. Because who doesnโ€™t want to watch players like Kevin Durant or Joel Embiid commit domestic terrorism on the basketball court?

But while each of these teams, and plenty of other talented players, have made NBA League Pass a must throughout this global pandemic, for years now, my favorite team to watch is the Golden State Warriors. But with his 34th birthday looming, while mired in a Smush Parker-esque, career-worst shooting slump, is Steph Curry beginning to lose his superpowers?

In December, we covered our eyesโ€”and peeked through our fingersโ€”as the three-time NBA champion hurled clunker after clunker during his quest to usurp Ray Allen as the NBAโ€™s all-time leader in 3-pointers. His mission mightโ€™ve been a success, but in the time since, his continued violent onslaughts against basketball rims throughout the league could have him facing a class action lawsuitโ€”and aggravated assault charges.

https://twitter.com/mlc22_/status/1481079333611614208?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

This season, the Davidson demigod is shooting a career 42 percent from the field (his career average is 47.4 percent) and a shockingly bad (for him) 38.4 percent from deep. And if you really wanna throw up your lunch, shall we gather around the campfire and take a gander at how Steph has shot from behind the arc since December?

Look, Iโ€™m sorry. Maybe I shouldโ€™ve included a trigger warning or something before showing yโ€™all that. But what the fuck is happening here?

โ€œHeโ€™s obviously the greatest shooter of all time, but it happens,โ€ Steve Kerr explained to reporters earlier this month. โ€œIโ€™ve been around some of the great players of all time in my life, in my blessed basketball existence and Iโ€™ve seen it with everybody. Every great player has tough nights, itโ€™s just part of it.โ€

https://twitter.com/anthonyVslater/status/1478930889484738560?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

OK, sure. But this damn many?

Whatโ€™s scary about this slump is that even though Steph has inexplicably transformed into Dwight Howard, heโ€™s still putting up 27 points a nightโ€”good for sixth in the league. Will the spacing (and rest on the offensive end of the floor) that Klay Thompsonโ€™s return provides allow the man we all know and love to regain his status as the undisputed fulcrum of the Warriors offense?

https://twitter.com/PerDalali/status/1481087073109037059?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

โ€œThe ballโ€™s just not going in,โ€ Curry told reporters last week. โ€œBody of work over the course of this year has been pretty solid. This last stretch has not been great, not even to my standards. So youโ€™ve just got to stick with the program. Never been reactive in terms of tough shooting nights or whatever. Same process, just understand the big picture of what weโ€™re trying to do and what Iโ€™m trying to do, and then itโ€™ll come around.โ€

Ayesha, what have you been feeding this man?

Iโ€™d like to see Steph finish stronger at the rim and get off the ball more so he can free himself up, but I ainโ€™t the coach. So Iโ€™ma need Steve Kerr to sprinkle some Jesus on this situation post-haste, because the rest of the congregation is beginning to lose faith in our savior.

Straight From The Root

Sign up for our free daily newsletter.